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Est. 2009

10 Insider Tips From A Wedding Planner...

Planning a wedding can be a stressful time for both you and your partner … but it doesn’t have to be!!! Check out Janette Newell from Olive Rose Wedding's & Events easy to implement wedding hacks to make planning your wedding that little bit easier.

BRIDAL EXPOS

Create and print out your own sign up form! THIS WILL BE THE GREATEST THING YOU EVER DO!!! Print and cut out your details including *** Your name, Email, Phone number and wedding date. Most vendors will have draws and competitions instead of writing your details over and over and over just use these pre-filled out entry forms!!! GENIUS RIGHT!!!! If you only do one thing from my list of 6 make it this! This will save you hand and your sanity.

Create a specific wedding email address so that all your wedding information is in one place. This is such a great idea! It’s free to setup another email so why wouldn’t you. No need to sift through a million emails to find your wedding things. Make it cute like mrandmrsstafford@ or jenandstandswedding@ or weddingofthecentury@.

Have fun with it. I also recommend creating folders within your new email address and label them for each service (Wedding Planner, Celebrant, Venue, Etc) so that later on when you need to find a particular email it couldn’t be easier. 😉

RSVP CARDS

On your RSVP cards, put a space for your guests to request a song. This way you will know what your guests want to hear and they will get excited when their song comes on!

Number your RSVP cards so you can easily see at a glance if you’re missing any.

BUDGETING

Weddings can be extremely expensive and can get seriously out of hand when you don’t keep to your budget!

Firstly, work out how much you are willing to spend on your wedding. Secondly, can you afford it? Do you need a longer engagement to save the money, or are your parents chipping in? These questions need to be answered before you start planning your wedding.

If other parties are willing to help pay, organise a chat with them regarding how much they are willing to pay. Or perhaps delegate certain aspects of the wedding each party can pay for. E.g. Reception catering, bar tab, etc.

Once a plan of attack has been made create a budget spreadsheet and keep those (if any) helping pay for your wedding updated with expenses. This will avoid any surprise payments at the last minute.

BE PREPARED

Create a Plan B for unexpected weather. I could not recommend this any higher. If you don’t have a Plan B chances are everything that could go wrong will go wrong. So you need to be super organised and on top of this. Talk to your planner or coordinator to discuss a wet weather plan. And to be perfectly honest … wet weather weddings are my all time favourite and they make for STUNNING photos with a chance of a rainbow. Amazing.

Create an emergency kit! This is super fun to create and why not make it a fun scavenger hunt between you and your bridal party!!! (Wishing now I did this with my girls). This kit should enclose important lists and schedules for your day as well as health, beauty, sewing, items as well as anything you can think of. Try searching Pinterest for lists you can use.

THE DRESS

Make sure someone in your bridal party knows how to strap you in and bustle your dress

This comes in under being prepared but really needs its own section. No point on buying the most beautiful dress in the world and not having a single person that knows how to strap you in or bustle your dress after the ceremony. I suggest taking your mother and one of your bridesmaids to your fitting to learn how to do these 2 things. Don’t just rely on a safety pin and your girls knowledge of wedding dresses.

Get your seamstress to add a bustle to your gown. If you’re like me and can’t stand the thought of buying an expensive dress only to have to buy a second one for the reception so you can dance in it! Crazy right! By getting your seamstress to sew a hook or button into your gown allows you to hook the bottom of your train up to the lower outside back part of your gown so that it’s lifted off the floor and you can dance the night away.

PAWFECT ATTIRE

When dressing up your pet for your wedding you to make sure what they are wearing is not constricting or distracting for them. You want to make sure they are comfortable and not irritated. We suggest a floral collar or bow tie which can be situated behind the head or under the chin, this also reduces the chance of them pulling it off before the ceremony. Be mindful that clothing will often result in overheating your precious pet especially in Summer.

Just remember you can’t control everything! And if something goes wrong it’s not the end of the world and in most cases, can be fixed without any issues. But if something really bad goes wrong, well you’ll have a fantastic story to tell for years to come. If your smiling the whole world will smile with you. Have a fantastic day and just relax and enjoy all the things we take for granted because it’s your day to shine and sparkle. You deserve it.

“My passion for weddings showed itself to me when my handsome husband proposed to me. I had always loved weddings but had no idea of all the little details that tied such a beautiful day together.

This is when the obsession started.

I will tell you now Pinterest will be your best & worst friend! There are so many amazing ideas that it can become a little overwhelming. That's where I come in. Let me help you blend all your stunning ideas and dreams to make a day not to forget.” Janette Newell